Politics Briefing: Poilievre blames NDP, Liberal mayors for rising crime across Canada

Hello,

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says “woke Liberal NDP mayors” are to blame for rising crime across Canada.

“The worst disorder, drug abuse ,crime and chaos are in places run by woke NDP, Liberal mayors and premiers,” Mr. Poilievre told a news conference in Edmonton on Thursday.

“Their policies have unleashed a wicked crime spree across this country.”

The Conservative Leader cited incidents of urban violence in Alberta this week, including a man randomly stabbed at a Edmonton bus stop on Thursday morning.

Mr. Poilievre said the situation is playing out “everywhere that Liberals and New Democrats are in power, in Montreal, and British Columbia and in cities that have woke NDP-Liberal mayors

The leader of the Official Opposition referenced Vancouver, blaming the NDP for tent cities, issues around illegal drugs, and random violence.

Among provinces, Manitoba and Saskatchewan had Canada’s highest crime severity rates, according to Statistics Canada data for 2021 released in August, 2022. Canada’s territories had higher rates. The index measures the volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada.

Mr. Poilievre said the “cause and effect” factor at play is that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and “his coalition with the NDP” brought in what he referred to as a “catch and release” approach to bail that allows the release of repeat offenders.

“How do I blame it on the federal-Liberal NDP coalition? The fact is it’s a nationwide problem that we did not have before Justin Trudeau. We have it now. I will fix it.”

Last March, the federal Liberals and the NDP committed to a “supply-and-confidence” agreement that will see them work together on key policy areas, averting an election until at least 2025.

As a result, he said he is making the case for a “common sense Conservative approach” to dealing with crime that includes more police officers, “real consequences” for repeat offenders across Canada, and an end to safe supply of illegal drugs.

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TODAY'S HEADLINES

PIERRE TRUDEAU FOUNDATION REVIEWING BEIJING-LINKED DONATION - The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is planning an outside review of a controversial Beijing-linked donation, after concerns were raised internally about possible wrongdoing. Story here.

INFLATION SET TO FALL QUICKLY: MACKLEM - Inflation should fall quickly in the coming months but getting it back to 2 per cent could be a long slog, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said Thursday, suggesting that interest rates may need to remain elevated for some time. Story here.

CHINESE COMMUNITY MEMBERS INTIMIDATED: MENDICINO - Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says Chinese community members in Vancouver have told him of “intimidation, harassment and abuse” linked to foreign governments or their proxies, confirming the need for a foreign agent registry. Story here.

GOODBYE TO BC LIBERALS - Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon has lowered the curtain on the British Columbia Liberal Party, ushering in BC United, a new name and branding for the political party once led by premiers Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark. Story here.

FUND TO FACILITATE HEARING PARTICIPATION MAY CLOSE - A funding organization that pays public-interest groups for taking part in hearings held by the Canadian Radio-television and Communications Commission, the federal broadcasting regulator, says it is running out of money and may have to close. Story here.

THIS AND THAT

ON A BREAK – Both the House of Commons and the Senate are on breaks, with the Commons sitting again on April 17 and the Senate sitting again on April 18.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER’S DAY - Chrystia Freeland, in Washington, is attending spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group. She was also scheduled to attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting. Ms. Freeland was also scheduled to host a working lunch with Caribbean partners, and to chair the Five Finance Ministers meeting.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER IN SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN - Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is in South Korea on Thursday on the first day of a two-day visit set to include talks with her South Korean counterpart, Park Jin. Ms. Joly is scheduled to travel on to Japan, over April 16 and 18, to participate in the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Ms. Joly also announced the appointment of Tamara Mawhinney as ambassador to South Korea and Paul Gibbard as ambassador to the Holy See.

MINISTERS ON THE ROAD - With the House of Commons on a break, ministers continue to travel the country talking up the recent federal budget. Here are the ministers, their locales, and venues: Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, in Port Coquitlam, B.C., at a foodservice distributor. Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, in Quebec City, at the campus of UgoWork, which is involved in making lithium-ion batteries, with Mayor Bruno Marchand. Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings, in Whitehorse, at an online grocery delivery outlet. Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray, at a supermarket in Richmond, B.C.. International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan, in Calgary, at a dental centre.

BIG CHANGES FOR THE ONTARIO SCIENCE CENTRE - Ontario Premier Doug Ford says that moving the Ontario Science Centre south to the grounds of the former waterfront Ontario Place park is a “great idea,” but ruled out getting into more details Thursday at a news conference, for now. “If I told you now, my minister of infrastructure would shoot me on the spot,” Mr. Ford said. “Can you stay tuned until next week?” The science centre museum was opened in 1969. Mr. Ford said, were the science centre moved, there is a tremendous opportunity to create affordable, non-profit homes. The centre is to be the final, northern stop for the 15.6-kilometre Ontario Line subway now in the works. There’s a story here on the launch of deliberations on Ontario Place.

PRIME MINISTERIAL ENCOUNTER WITH A PPC SUPPORTER - Politics is often scripted, but there’s an interesting, very unscripted encounter here between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a supporter of the People’s Party of Canada. It happened at the University of Manitoba.

THE DECIBEL

On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Steven Chase, the Globe’s senior parliamentary reporter, talks about the issue of cyber attacks from Russia as retribution for Canada helping Ukraine. This week, at least two Canadian government websites were down, courtesy of Russian hackers, and claims surfaced that Russian hackers had compromised a Canadian gas company. Mr. Chase talks about the attacks, and how they fit into Russia’s broader plan to punish supporters of Ukraine. The Decibel is here.

PRIME MINISTER'S DAY

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Regina, visited a local grocery story to talk about the budget, and took media questions. Later, he was scheduled to participate in a Budget 2023 town hall with students and community members. Radio interviews with Mr. Trudeau were also scheduled to air on 92.7 CKJS Good Morning Philippines, and on CBC’s The Morning Edition - Sask with Stefani Langenegger. The latter interview is here.

LEADERS

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, in Edmonton, held a news conference and attended a party fundraiser at the Royal Glenora Club.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Saskatoon, visited the dentistry college at the University of Saskatchewan, delivered remarks in the city about dental care and met with Mayor Charlie Clark and was scheduled to host a meet-and-greet event for supporters.

No schedules released for other party leaders.

OPINION

The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how, after more than three decades, Ottawa is moving to create a fairer path to appeal wrongful convictions: “In 1990, the Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall Jr. Prosecution put forward many recommendations after its work to show everything that went wrong in the jailing of a teenager for 11 years for a murder he didn’t commit. The top two called for an overhaul of the review system. The first sought “an independent review mechanism” for potential cases of wrongful conviction. The second said such a body should be given power to investigate these cases. It didn’t happen.”

Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on how ‘these stories are based on unnamed sources,’ and other Liberal deflections: “Why am I going over all of this ancient history? Because something similar is under way now, on another story of political malfeasance: China’s attempts to interfere with our elections, what help it might have received from domestic enablers, and what the Trudeau government did or did not know about it. I don’t mean it’s as big a story (although it’s big enough). And we don’t know yet what all the facts are. But in the basics – reporters alleging wrongdoing by public officials, based on evidence provided by unnamed sources, who feared the story might otherwise be suppressed – it raises many of the same issues. Only this time it’s not only the flop-sweating spokespeople for the accused who are denouncing the reporters for their use of unnamed sources. It’s much of the Canadian establishment.”

John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on how, instead of seeking reconciliation, politicians manufacture crises for partisan gain: “The ridiculous overreaction by Prairie premiers and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to remarks from Justice Minister David Lametti deepens fissures that politicians should be trying to heal. In the partisan crossfire, real issues involving the lives of real people get lost – in this case, the well-being of First Nations.”

James Mitchell and Mel Cappe (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how public servants should not be independent and unaccountable decision-makers: “The leaking of CSIS documents about interference in our elections has sparked a misunderstanding about the role of public servants. After the now-famous leaker defended the release of information, Edgar Schmidt, a retired lawyer, wrote that public servants have a duty of professional loyalty, not to the government or the minister they serve, but to the public interest. He argued that their duty is owed to “the state” and not to its temporary governors. Attractive though this idea may appear (after all, what do public servants serve if not the public interest?), it is dangerously wrong, and it is all the more dangerous because it is advanced by a former senior lawyer from the Department of Justice.”

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